Palestinians: EC Aid

Richard Burden
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many projects have been cancelled or suspended in the Palestinian authority area since the European Commission's decision of 7 April 2006 to stop funds being transferred to that authority, broken down by type of project; and how the funds being withheld are being treated.

Hilary Benn
Since the election of the Hamas-led Palestinian authority (PA), ten European Commission (EC) projects have been suspended. These are:

1. Health sector support programme

2. Support to tax administration in Ministry of Finance

3. Support to customs administration in the Ministry of Finance

4. Infrastructure for judiciary sector

5. Vocational education and training facilities centre

6. Nablus old city renovation

7. Schools construction

8. Gaza airport

9. Infrastructure facility for Ministry of Finance (apart from activities directly managed by the EC)

10. Support to the energy and transport sectors

Not all of these projects were suspended as a result of the Hamas-led Government's failure to meet the quartet principles. For example, the Gaza airport project was very unlikely to move forward during 2006, regardless of Palestinian political developments. The EC re-designed some projects in order to achieve the same results without channelling funds through the PA. Funds for other projects remain available for when the EC restarts business with the PA.

The EC re-designed its 2006 programme in order to deliver support to the Palestinian people without channelling funding through the Hamas-led Government. This did not result in significant amounts of funding being blocked or suspended. In fact, the EC spent €348 million in 2006, compared to €277 million in 2005. This included support to: the temporary international mechanism; the Office of the Palestinian president; local and international non-governmental organisations; projects implemented by international organisations (such as the World Bank, and UNESCO); and humanitarian assistance delivered by the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Richard Burden
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) technical assistance, (b) budgetary support and (c) humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian authority has been suspended by the (i) EU and (ii) UK following the election of the Hamas Government.

Hilary Benn
Following the election of the Hamas-led Government, the European Union (EU) has suspended a number of technical assistance projects. A breakdown of specific projects from all member states is not available. Ten European Commission (EC) projects have been suspended, though some of these might have been suspended regardless of Palestinian political developments. The EC re-designed some projects in order to achieve the same results without channelling funds through the Palestinian authority (PA). No new budget support agreement was put into place (though budget support was not technically suspended). EU (EC and member states) humanitarian assistance commitments were €165 million in 2006, more than double the 2005 figure. Overall, EU assistance increased by 27 per cent. in 2006 to £442 million, including £123 million for Palestinian basic needs through the temporary international mechanism. This compares to £42 million which the EU gave in budget support to the PA in 2005.

DFID has re-oriented its technical assistance to comply with the quartet statement of 30 January. The only UK-led project that has been suspended is a planned project covering hydrometric monitoring to the Palestinian water authority (PWA) worth £431,000. No new budget support agreement was put into place. In 2005-06 (prior to the election of Hamas) DFID provided £10 million in budget support to the PA. DFID humanitarian assistance has remained unaffected. The UK maintained the same level of support (£30 million) in 2006-07 as in 2005-06, and will increase this slightly to £30.6 million for 2007-08.